Saturday, 27 April 2013

Review - Kit Ehrman: At Risk

This was a cracking read. I sat up far too long trying
to finish it and find out what happened. It’s tautly plotted, has an excellent
horsey background, and had me holding my breath as the denouement approached. If you like heart-in-mouth stuff, with strong, attractive characters, download this book: you really don't have anything to lose, because it's free.

Hero Steve Kline, at the age of only 21, is barn manager to
Foxdale, a stable of over 200 horses. He’s very, very good at his job. The book
opens as Steve is heading to the barn in the middle of the night to give a
horse medication. He surprises an attempt to steal seven of the barn’s horses;
is beaten up and abducted. He gets free, but with no idea of who’s abducted
him. The theft is not an isolated incident: the barn is subjected to
increasingly horrible incidents. Someone has obviously singled out Foxdale for
an especial brand of terror.

Steve Kline is tough and resourceful, but has an empathy
with both humans and horses which makes him a particularly attractive tough guy
hero. He has the sort of can-do air to him which gives the reader confidence
that things will work out, but makes you interested in how he does it. The
other characters are all neatly drawn, and the whole thing is a thoroughly
believable gallop through American barn life.

Kit Ehrman does write very well indeed about horses. She observes them without
sentimentality, and she understands them. Chase is one of those horses who is
hell on legs in the stable, but a dream once ridden, and particularly when
jumping. It’s difficult to get horses realistically horsey: too often
sentiment intrudes, or the horses are like action men with four legs: devoid of
any personality save what the rider chooses to believe they’re like. For comparison, here’s a
bit about Chase:

“I pulled Chase sharply to the left, kicked him in the ribs,
and he plowed through the thick undergrowth and bounded up the hill. His hooves
slipped on the rain-soaked leaves. I grabbed mane and clucked to him. As we
neared the ridge, I felt him abruptly focus his attention. I squinted through
the rain. Directly ahead stood a four-foot-high picket fence, its white planks
gleaming in the darkness. Chase pricked his ears and extended his stride with
enthusiasm...... When we reached the curb on the far side, I hopped off the
gelding and led him onto the sidewalk. Chase snaked his neck around and tried
to get a piece of my skin between his teeth.”

This is a very superior equine mystery indeed. I’m now going
to download the others in the series.